Taiwanese mobile chip giant MediaTek reports Q2 revenue of NT$33.28B ($1.1B), +42% Y/Y and soundly beating guidance of NT$30B-$31.6B; shares rose 4.7% in Taipei in response. The numbers are another sign of surging demand for low-end/mid-range smartphones in China and other emerging markets, and could have implications for Qualcomm (QCOM-0.3%) and Spreadtrum (SPRD-1%), which MediaTek has been fiercely competing with for Chinese OEM design wins. They arrive as Samsung warns its Q2 op. profit will miss expectations following weaker-than-expected Galaxy S4 sales; a demand shift towards cheaper hardware is a likely culprit.

Spreadtrum (SPRD-0.8%) has hired Morgan Stanley to advise it on Tsinghua Unigroup's $28.50/share buyout offer. The chipmaker says its board is "continuing its review and evaluation of the Unigroup Proposal and other alternatives available to the Company." Shares currently trade 8% below the offer price.

Qualcomm (QCOM) is losing Chinese smartphone processor share to MediaTek and Spreadtrum (SPRD), says TrendForce. Qualcomm's share is believed to have fallen to 33%. For reference, Strategy Analytics put Qualcomm's global baseband chip share at 59%. MediaTek is seen having a 52% Chinese processor share, and Spreadtrum (fresh off preannouncing a blowout Q2) an 11% share; both have been very aggressive with pricing. Qualcomm is trying to strengthen its hand by launching cheap quad-core processors and courting reference design wins. The launch of Chinese 4G services could eventually boost Qualcomm's share. IDC estimates Chinese smartphone sales rose 117% Y/Y in Q1, and made up 36% of global shipments.